


so familiar and so different

by babylxxrry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: A thing, Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Gen, Sad Ending, it's sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 08:09:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5777971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babylxxrry/pseuds/babylxxrry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam crouched low as one of the Bitten stumbled towards him, his gun trained on its forehead. When he could see the individual tooth marks on its collarbone, he pulled the trigger, watched the Biter fall, and let out a breath he didn’t realize he'd been holding. </p>
<p>(or an apocaplypse au no one asked for)</p>
            </blockquote>





	so familiar and so different

**Author's Note:**

> wow.  
> hello  
> i can't write fluff wtf.

Liam crouched low as one of the Bitten stumbled towards him, his gun trained on its forehead. When he could see the individual tooth marks on its collarbone, he pulled the trigger, watched the Biter fall, and let out a breath he didn’t realize he'd been holding. 

It’s been seven years and Liam's still not used to killing. Granted, he was only nine when an experiment went wrong in a lab in Mexico and released a swarm of Bitten on the US. Liam supposes they could be called zombies, but he don’t like calling them that because they’re not undead, per se. When a human is bitten by a pre-existing Biter, he/she slowly becomes a Biter. Thing is, they still have basic brain functions, unlike zombies, which just kinda hang around until they spot a human. It’s actually programmed into a Biter’s mind to track down humans to bite. 

It’s been three years since his sister Ruth was bitten. It had been only three months since the first Biter was spotted in his state, but Ruth had never been a killer, always the one to stop Liam when he went to kill a bug, always the one to let it outside into the yard. One night, she’d been on watch duty for their house, and a Biter managed to sneak right up to her and bite her. Their dad had to kill her. It haunted him for years, until one day, he went out scavenging for food for Liam and his mom, and never came back. Soon after Liam found his now-Biter-dad on the road with a bullet through his head, his mom disappeared and he's been alone. It’s not that bad. He just has to take care of himself and himself only. The few times he's seen a human, they were both stocked with guns and knives, and nodded in passing, never bothering to team up. The fewer attachments anyone has in this kill-or-be-killed world, the better.

Liam took down a couple more Biters prowling in the alley across from him before he darted into a long-closed convenience store with its glass door smashed ages ago. When he paused to really look around, he realized that this was his old hometown. This morbid wasteland used to be his whole world. Memories of old acquaintances and friends danced before his eyes. His old school. His old best-friend, now long dead. His old nanny’s apartment complex across the street. All so familiar and so different. His old church. It was hard to keep believing in God. It was hard when he prayed and prayed for this to be finished, and it just continues. But God and his faith were the only things left of his old life, so he clung onto them as hard as he could.

In remembering his old life, Liam spaced out and a Biter snuck up behind me. It was too late to use a gun, so he spun around and whipped out his knife, ready to be bitten and turned, but then he heard a gunshot and watched as the Biter collapsed in front of him without him touching it. When he got over his surprise, he opened his mouth to thank the killer, but when he took in his face, Liam was speechless.

“Oh. My… Zayn?”

“Liam?”

“Oh my God, Zee. Oh my God. Oh my God.” Liam pretty much ran to Zayn before he threw his arms around his old friend. They were close friends before the Bitten took over, and Liam had assumed Zayn was dead. The last time they'd seen each other was when they were nine. 

They held each other tight for a few moments before Zayn held Liam at arms’ reach and looked him up and down.

“Gosh, Leeyum. You’ve grown so much.” 

Liam laughed for the first time in ages, the unfamiliar sound ringing off the debris field that was his old town. “Speak for yourself, you little pest.” Zayn’d grown tall- just shy of Liam's height. He’d lost most of his baby fat and the angles of his face had sharpened. Overall, he was really damn hot.

_Liam, get a hold of yourself._

“God, I’ve been lonely.” Zayn breathed.

Liam couldn’t help but nod, as much as he’d like to deny it. It was dangerous to become attached in a world like this. Sometimes he felt like he was a step away from just offing himself and getting out of here, but somehow he always managed to pull himself back. He _knew_ if someone he was attached to died, he wouldn’t stand a chance against his bad days.

“It’s getting late and the Biters are gonna be more active soon. We should go.” Zayn broke the silence.

“D’you have a place?”

Liam shrugged. “I usually find a high balcony and hope none of them get into the building.”

“I have little place. Came with me?”

“Sorry, Zee. You know how this world is. I can’t risk getting attached.” Liam grimaced. Actually, he would’ve loved to let himself get attached to one last person before he most likely died, and considering he’d known Zayn since forever, he wouldn’t be a bad choice.

Zayn’s face fell. “Well, okay. Good luck, then, and g’bye, because you know how this world is.” His tone was laced with hurt and an undertone of sarcasm.

Liam winced at his choice of words and watched him turn and shuffle away, the slump of his shoulders still familiar but so different after all these years.

“Zayn. Wait.” Liam couldn’t help calling after him.

He stopped but didn’t turn around. 

“Can I come with you…?”

He turned around and a small smile graced his features. “Come on, then.”

 

~ 

 

Turns out Zayn’s “little place” was an elevator shaft that went up to the roof of a decrepit hotel. The elevator car itself was stuck halfway between the top floor and the floor immediately below, and a thick, well-crafted tarp covered the open doors. Zayn jumped down, landing on top of the elevator car with a soft thump. He turned to Liam and held out a hand. Liam took it and hopped down. It was surprisingly cozy for an elevator shaft. There was a twin mattress on one side of the small space with an old quilt on it and a small stockpile of weapons in a corner. The last corner contained a little food and a couple hygiene items.

“Wow..Zee, this…this place is amazing.”

He glowed. “Thanks. I’ve been working on it for a while. Maybe two years.”

“So this is your home?”

Zayn nodded. “You could call it that.”

“So I’m assuming the elevator is completely dead.”

“’course. I wouldn’t have chosen here if it weren’t. That tarp-” He pointed up at the entrance covered by the tarp, “-was a lucky find. It was stuck in a dumpster behind what’s left of the coffeeshop. It still smells like coffee, which throws the Bitten off my scent.”

“That’s so cool. Wish I could stay.”

A shadow flitted across Zayn's face. “You should. At least tonight? ‘Til the morning when it’s safer?”

“I really shouldn’t. It’s not safe for either of us- two is double the scent for the Bitten. You know we shouldn’t get too attached.”

“Just…just stay for now, please?” Something pleading in his eyes ended up breaking Liam's resolve.

“Fine.”

 

~

 

Liam shouldn’t have stayed. 

They lay side by side on the mattress, staring up at the concrete ceiling. They’d been talking for a while and had drifted from topic to topic. It’d gotten progressively darker in the elevator shaft until the two couldn’t see each other anymore. Liam could tell that Zayn was drifting off, his words coming slower and slower until he started forgetting what he was saying between each phrase.

“Babe. Go to sleep. It’s late.”

He didn’t reply. Liam thought he was asleep until two whispered words and a little sniffle broke the silence. 

“Cuddle me?”

Liam froze. “Um.”

“N-Nevermind, um, if you don’t, like, want to, uh, i-it’s, like, fine.” 

Without replying, Liam slid his arm over Zayn's slim waist so he was the little spoon. Zayn curled back into Liam. His sniffles increased in frequency until his shoulders were heaving with sobs.

“Z-Zayn? You okay?”

“S-sorry! ‘m sorry, Leeyum, sorrysorrysorrysorryso-”

“Shh, it’s fine. It’s okay to cry. It’s alright.” Liam's words seemed to bring a renewed bout of sobs.

“I-It’s…just that I miss m-my family so m-much. J-Just l-lost S-Safaa a couple w-weeks ago…She w-was the l-last…” He managed to get out through his tears.

“Oh God, that must have been hard. I’m sorry.” Liam's words sounded so cold and unfamiliar even to his ears. But what else could he say?

“N-Not your f-fault…”

“Shhhh…’ve got you now, we’re gonna make it through, right?”

Zayn nodded tremulously, tears still rolling down his cheeks.

“G’night, Li.”

“Night, Zee.” LIam brought his hand up and ruffled Zayn's hair before settling more comfortably into the mattress and closing his eyes.

 

~

 

Liam sees himself wrapped around Zayn, both of them sound asleep. Dream-Liam blinks his eyes open but closes them again. Liam's view zooms out and he watchs as a Biter creeps up to the tarp and pulls it back. It jumps down with surprising agility and shuffles towards the two of them. It crouches and bites Zayn on the collarbone just before Liam's dream-eyes open and his hand shoots to the gun he always, _always_ keeps next to him when he sleeps. The gunshot wakes Zayn, who stretches before his eyes widen and his hand goes to his collarbone. He gasps.

“Liam. It got me.”

“What? No! No, Zee! I can’t lose you too.”

Both of them sit in silence. 

“Shoot me.” 

Two quiet words break the silence, so much like last night but so different at the same time.

“What?”

“Shoot me. Kill me before I turn.”

“But I can’t kill you, Zayn!”

“Please, Leeyum. I don’t want to feel like all I wanna do is hunt and turn others. I want to leave this world as Zayn, not as a Biter.”

“I…I can’t!”

He grabs Liam's gun from him and reloads it. He points it at his own temple, tears welling in his eyes.

“Then I will.”

“No! Wait.”

“What?”

Liam holds out his hand. Zayn places the gun in his palm, and Liam points it at him, his hands shaking and vision blurring. He can barely make out the tears on Zayn's face through his own. 

“I’m so sorry, Zee, so sorry.”

Liam pulls the trigger.

He drops the gun and buries his face in his hands, sobs ripping his throat and chest. His whole body screams at him. He just killed his best friend. He just killed possibly the last person he has left in this world.

 

~

 

It’s so familiar and so different. Liam sees himself wrapped around Zayn. His eyes blink open, only this time, he wakes up. Liam slips off the mattress and quietly grabs his weapons. Zayn doesn’t stir as Liam climbs out. There are Biters filling the roof. Liam grabs his gun and starts shooting. 

“Liam?” Zayn calls from the elevator shaft.

“Get up here, Zee! Biters all over.”

Liam watchs in horror as one Biter approaches dream-Liam from behind and opens its mouth. He spins around and- 

 

~

 

Liam blinked his eyes open. He rolled off the mattress and grabbed his weapons.

“Zee, get up. I have a bad feeling about this…”

“Hmm?” Zayn yawned and stretched. 

“Grab your weapons, I had a really weird dream and I have a bad feeling about this morning.”

He shrugged and strapped a couple of guns to his back, then grabbed a smaller pistol and loaded it.

Liam climbed out, ready to shoot. 

Just like in the dream, the Bitten were all over the roof. Liam was ready for them, though. He took down the closest before jumping out from the shaft and really fighting. Zayn was close behind him, and they ended up back to back, shootingshootingshooting until the roof was carpeted in dead Biters.

Zayn had his hands on his knees, panting. He glanced up at Liam through his sweaty fringe. “How’d you know?”

“I had this super weird dream. It was like a premonition-type thing?”

“Oh. Well, we’re alive. That’s all that matters right now.”

“Yeah.”

They stood staring at each other for a few moments before Zayn launched himself into Liam's arms.

“Thank you, Liam. Thankyouthankyou oh my God, Liam…You have no idea…” He whispered against Liam's neck.

Liam rubbed circles into Zayn's back until his finger caught on a ripped piece of his sweater. Fuck. 

“Turn around, Zee.” He spun around obediently.

Liam didn’t want to look and see what he thought would be there, but he did.

“N-No…”

“What? What happened?” Zayn craned his neck around, trying to see what Liam was so concerned about.

“You can’t feel it?”

“Feel what?”

“One got you.”

“What?!”

“A Biter got you on the back.”

He turned back around, lip caught between his teeth.

“Does…does that mean I’m going to turn?”

Liam shrugged helplessly, “I dunno…”

“But I don’t want to turn. I’m only seventeen.”

“And I don’t want you to turn either, Zee. It’s been so long since someone I know.” Liam couldn’t help the tears that started welling in his eyes as he thought about leaving Zayn behind to turn and end up dead. Liam brought Zayn back into a hug. Zayn clutched the stupid brown sweatshirt Liam always had, even as a little boy. Now, it was a worn-soft, blood-and-dirt-smuged thing, but apparently he still loved it.

“C’mon. We still have at least a couple hours before you turn.” Zayn mumbled into Liam's chest.

Zayn felt, rather than heard, Liam hum his assent, and he guided the two of them back to the elevator shaft with Zayn still tucked into his side.

 

~

 

“I remember when Doni turned. It was in the middle of the night that she’d been bitten before Saf killed the Biter. We couldn’t bring ourselves to kill her right then, but by dawn, she was gone. Saf found her a couple blocks down the street. Her face was…all like, swollen and red, and the rest of her body looked like a Biter’s. I think she killed herself so she wouldn’t turn us.” Zayn’s face was impassive as he talked about his younger sisters. That in itself scared Liam more than his bite. He knew that when Zayn Malik became impassive about something so important to him, he’d given up.

They'd sat in silence for a couple of minutes when they'd gotten back to the shaft, but now, Zayn was spilling his mind to Liam.

“I think I probably have around an hour left.”

Liam had nothing to say. Really, what was there to say that wasn’t thoroughly superficial?

Silence reigned.

After a few minutes of staring at a piece of lint in the quilt, Zayn turned to Liam. Two quiet, hesitant words filled the silence, so much like last night, but such a different set of words.

“Kill me.”

Liam's eyes widened. No. This was too much like last night’s dream. This isn’t happening. They defeated the Biters. They changed the course of the future… Didn’t they?

“I… Zee, no. I can’t.”

“Please, Liam.” Zayn’s voice broke. 

“No. I couldn’t live with myself.” Liam turned away from his eyes and prepared to climb back out into the horrors of his world. Zayn didn’t say anything. Liam pulled himself up to the top of the shaft and got to his feet. The sun was still hot in the sky, and he blinked at the light. If he hurried, he could probably reach a safer place for the night. 

“Then I’ll do it.”

Liam whipped around at the sound of Zayn's voice, sad and somewhat strangled with tears. He was looking up at Liam from the mattress, all hope gone from his eyes. He had the gun pressed to his temple, and Liam knew if he pulled the trigger, he’d die instantly. Tears welled up and a sob came up in his throat. Liam jumped back down and held out a hand. Zayn placed the gun in Liam's palm, its cool metal burning against Liam's skin, as if it were reminding him just how horrible this world could be.

Liam pointed it at Zayn, his arms shaking and tears blurring his vision. He could barely make out the tears on Zayn's face through his own. Liam thought they’d cheated death. He thought they’d won. He thought he would’ve had a companion in this bitter, unforgiving world. He was so wrong.

“Bye, Leeyum.” His voice was quiet, steady, a harsh contrast to the tears streaming down his face.

“Bye, Zayn.” Liam could barely get the words out through his sobs.

His finger tightened. The gun kicked back, so familiar and so different.

 

 

 

 

-fin.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr is smollest-louis


End file.
